One Big Beautiful Thing

Title:  One Big Beautiful Thing
Author:  Marie Flanigan
Publisher:  Amazon Digital Services
Medium:  Kindle

Goodreads Synopsis:
Artist Kate Abernethy is trying to put her life back together after the death of her boyfriend. At first, moving back in with her mother seems like a good way to sort out her finances and re-evaluate her life-instead it proves to be a minefield of doubt and recrimination. Floundering, she pushes herself to take new opportunities so she can rebuild her life and have a second chance at happiness.

"...and they lived happily ever after."  I think that's the line from my childhood reading that made me aware that most of the time in order for me to walk away fulfilled from certain books that it must be included.  That line is where I discovered that I love to read books that end well.  Its the, I'm going to forget about all the real crap that's happening in my life line that whisks me away to a a make-believe place.

Chick-lit is one of those genres that never changes.  Girl with some issues meets boy, girl's issues become the main focus of the book, girl gets mad a boy because of issues, girl and boy work through issues and "they live happily ever after."  I almost never walk away from any chick-lit book feeling unfulfilled.

One Big Beautiful Thing was one of those chick-lit books that totally fit my needs for this past week.  I need an escape with a "...happily ever after." I needed a quick read.  I needed chick-lit.  Having just read Catcher in the Rye for my books and beer club, I needed that change of pace and something to take the edge off of adolescent male angst.  

There were girl issues and boy issues and mom issues swarming throughout this book.  There was a solid BFF and perfect opportunities that us normal folks can only conjure up in a fictitious world.  There were sad moments and happy moments.  "...and they lived happily ever after" with some bumps and lacerations along the way.

Unfortunately I walked away from One Big Beautiful Thing with more questions than answers.  The author left opportunities on the proverbial typewriter with this book.  As a reader, I was fulfilled with my "happily ever after, but there were issues screaming at the top of their lungs that I felt were not resolved, therefore Kate, the heroine of the story, can probably never have her fairy tale ending in her fictitious world.

The one thing that Kate never did was look behind her.  I think she should have taken the time to actually see and understand what that was - I get the metaphor that was intended, but if Kate were to see what was behind her, I could see it through her eyes if she would accept it and move on or at the very least, understand how she feels about it.  It was touched on, every so slightly, but I feel like there was a broken promise by Ms. Flanigan.  There were very big issues to me with this part of the book because there was no impression to me, as the reader, that this conflict was ever resolved with the heroine of the story.  She couldn't complete her arc.

One Big Beautiful Thing was well-written and edited, and in this day and age of Indie publishing that can make or break an author.  I enjoyed the love story, I enjoyed the art, and I am happy to have had the opportunity to read and review this book.

One Big Beautiful Thing